Wharton bats wake up in rout

GIBSONTON — Just hours after struggling at the plate in a no-hit loss to Plant on Friday, Wharton took little time to find a rhythm Saturday as the Wildcats found hits all over in a 15-3 win against East Bay.

Wharton (6-12) jumped ahead quickly as Danny Cotoia and Austin Hubbard singled in two runs in the Wildcats’ six-run first inning.

After the first three batters reached, Cotoia dropped a ball just over the infield lip with the third baseman drawn in, plating two runs.

After a single by Eric Kaminski (2-for-4, two runs scored), the left-handed-hitting Hubbard went to the opposite field to score two more runs before an error and a Henry Lear RBI single put the game out of reach.

“I was coming into the game thinking away, away, away,” Hubbard said.

“If that was where they were going to pitch me, that was the way I was going to go.”

Eight Wharton batters had hits, led by two freshmen — Hubbard (2-for-3, four RBIs) and Drew Ehrhard (3-for-4, two RBIs, two runs scored).

Seven of Wharton’s first 10 hits were infield singles, and the Wildcats had a 12-run lead after just two innings.

“Hustling everywhere will get you anywhere,” Ehrhard said. “If you hustle out every ground ball, you’ll beat a lot of them out.”

East Bay scratched out a pair of runs in the third on a bases-loaded walk and a run-scoring error. Darius Sillart doubled in a run in the fourth inning.

Wharton senior Derek French earned the win, going four innings, allowing two earned runs on three hits.